From our correspondent, in Bauchi
The Borno State Governor and Chairman of the Northeast Governors’ Forum, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum has said that the distribution of palliatives by the federal government was not a permanent solution to the food scarcity bedeviling the nation.
He accordingly called on stakeholders in the nation to put more efforts in resolving the economic conditions of the North East region in order to arrest the situation.
Professor Zulum stated this at the opening ceremony of the 10th meeting of the Northeast Governors’ Forum that opened in Bauchi on Friday.
He said that the Nigeria economy needs resuscitation which is a task that requires a collective and concerted effort from all parties.
“Members of the forum have been able to identify and address the various problems facing us individually and collectively in the Northeast subregion with the aim of articulating our regional economic structure. We can only achieve this by harmonizing our respective states development programmes and policies by being partners in progress.
“Our intention and desire is not only to expose the potential of our economic region, but also to invite and encourage investors to come and team up with us is our struggle. Our subregion is richly endowed with vast agricultural land for cultivation for both food and cash crops, animal husbandry is another area that deserves the attention of the investors,” he said.
The Chairman of the forum stated that the region is blessed with rich mineral resources that is yet to be developed, adding that preliminary investigation indicates that the mineral resources exist in commercial quantities in the subregion, hence the need to encourage investors to come and invest to make the export drive of the region a reality.
“We need to vigorously pursue industrial development programs that will encourage of local resources to stimulate the interest of small and medium scale business men to invest in the small and medium scale sub-sector.
“It could be recall that the First Lady of Nigeria, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu through the Renewed Hope initiative supported women farmers.We need to collaborate with women who focus on agricultural iniative to prioritize gender and inclusive policies to enhance women participation in agriculture, provide capacity building, advocate gender responsive and sensitive policies and promote development in order to contribute to the subregion to enhance women participation in agriculture,” he said.
Responding, Bauchi Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed lamented the economic reality of the country, pointing out that the past year has experienced some convulsions as the Federal Government initiated policies aimed at restructuring the economy.
“These policies have fuelled inflation, with transportation and food being the worst hit. The huge public outcry is understandable. In Bauchi State, we are grateful for the intervention of the Federal Government and for the understanding shown by the President.
“As has been widely reported, we spent an additional N2.5 billion to augment the Federal Government intervention. Obviously, measures by both the federal and state governments, though very helpful, have lived up to their name: palliative, only temporary measures. In the long run, governments must incentivize individuals for self-reliance and sustainable growth.
“Your Excellencies, as we commence this meeting, permit me to acknowledge the valiant effort of our security high command and our patriotic men and women under arms, who have substantially ‘degraded’ the menace of Boko Haram,” he said.
